Adjuvants, and in particular penetration enhancers, are used in agrochemical formulations to aid and enhance the activity and penetration of an agrochemical active ingredient through the leaf cuticle. Adjuvants may provide improved leaf surface wetting, leaf surface penetration of the active, and do not significantly inhibit translocation of the active in the treated plant. In addition, the adjuvant should not produce unwanted phytotoxic effects on the plant.
An adjuvant is defined as a chemical or a mixture of chemicals (commonly surfactants) capable of improving the biological activity or effectiveness of an agrochemical active. Adjuvants do not themselves control or kill pests. Instead, these additives modify some property (e.g. spreading, retention, penetration, droplet size etc.) of the agrochemical formulation which improves the ability of the active to penetrate, target, or protect the target organism. The typical types of compounds used as adjuvants may include surfactants, emulsifiers, oils, and salts.
In particular, certain adjuvants (typically termed penetrants or penetration enhancers for this use) may act to specifically permit or facilitate the uptake of an agrochemical active in to a leaf. These penetrants can markedly reduce the level of the active ingredient required and they can increase the activity or extend the spectrum of effectiveness. These effects can lead to the replacement of high priced or high toxicity active ingredients by lower priced penetrants, thereby delivering better control of the target with a single product.
A number of existing penetration enhancers are known. These include ethoxylated triglycerides disclosed in US 2009/0247597 (Bayer CropScience) (Crovol CR70G). WO 2010/072341 (Cognis) discloses polyol esters which are ethoxylated and used as penetration enhancers for biocides. US 2010/0041710 (Bayer) discloses penetration enhancers of alkoxylated alkanols and also alkoxylated triglycerides. US 2008/0312290 (Bayer) discloses penetration enhancers of alkoxylated alkanols.
The existing penetrants are typically obtained by ethoxylation of naturally occurring triglycerides. As is known in the art, naturally occurring triglycerides are not pure materials but are complex mixtures, with the exact composition varying depending upon the source. There can be difficulties in the alkoxylation of complex triglycerides thereby resulting in an even more complex range of alkoxylated triglyceride products.
Therefore, there is a need for penetrants for agrochemical applications produced by a different process which enables greater reproducibility, flexibility, and control of the synthetic process enabling the production of more defined and/or purer products.
There is a growing need and desire to provide penetrants, which provide for physical properties comparable to or better than existing prior penetration enhancers. In particular, existing penetrants typically have the disadvantage that they can cover very few effects and therefore have to be carefully selected depending on the form of use and type of formulation. There is a need to provide a penetrant which can exhibit broader applicability.
The present invention also seeks to provide the use of penetrants in agrochemical compositions in combination with an agrochemical active, where the penetrant may provide comparable or improved properties (e.g. deposition characteristics, penetration levels, phytotoxicity etc.) compared to existing penetrants.
The present invention also seeks to provide the use of agrochemical concentrates and dilute formulations comprising said penetrants.